Refining apparatus



Dec. 20, 1955 D. E. JONES ET AL REFINING APPARATUS Filed June 15, 1954 REFINING APPARATUS Dwight E. Jones and Edward H. Cumpston, Jr., Pittsfield, Mass., assignors to E. D. Jones & Sons Company, Pittsfield, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application June 15, 1954, SerialNo. 436,848

1 Claim. (Cl. 92-26) This invention relates to improvements in refiningapparatus for refining or treating cellulose fibers and the like and this application is a continuation in part of our application Serial Number 310,288, filed by us on September 18, 1952, now Patent No. 2,690,098. v

The apparatus of the invention, although adapted for various purposes, is particularly adapted for refining paper-making fibers and will be described with particular reference thereto.

The invention is directed to improvements in apparatus of the so-called double disc type wherein a central rotatable and reciprocable disc carrier has refining discs on opposite faces one of which cooperates with a nonrotatabie refining disc while the other cooperates with a refining disc of a second reciprocable non-rotatable carrier. The rotatable and non-rotatable carriers are axially adjustable for the desired adjustment and coaction of the refining discs. The arrangement of the discs provides two pairs thereof with the faces of the pairs having coacting means.

The principal objects of this invention are the .provision of separate inlets for stock disposed adjacent the center of the rotating disc so as to employ the natural pumping action set up thereby. That is, in both cases to throw the stock radially outwardly. At the same time, the stock is collected in the annular space around the discs and held there under pressure so that the rate of passage of stock may be controlled. Conventional machines permit stock to flow freely outward and the flow rate is determined by the design of the working elements, whereas in this machine, the working elements may be designed for a high throughput rate, but the actual amount of stock which is passed is regulated by the openings which are external to the machine. This also diifers from prior art apparatus wherein that the stock had been reversed in direction, flowing outwardly through a first pair of discs and inwardly through a second pair of discs. v

As an important feature, stock is retained in the apparatus by control means such as valve means or the like associated with the single outlet so that the discs are not only submerged at all times but the control means may be adjusted to establish and maintain a Wide range of predetermined flow conditions of stock, wherefore a pressure build-up is possible so that a plurality of machines may be series connected and operated without an auxiliary pump. In the case of present day apparatus with a reverse flow between discs, it is necessary to have a very powerful pump to operate units in series and there is a practical limit to how many units may be put in series without the use of intermediate auxiliary pumps. The flow rate through for a series of machines may be control ed in this manner within very wide limits because all the machines will be working under pressure, with a tendency to build up the pressure from unit to unit.

Another important feature of this machine with a double-inlet working under pressure is not only that large ice volumes of stock may be passed, but these large volumes are handled in a closed system so as to exclude air, whereas in conventional machines with free discharge from the periphery of the disc, air is entrapped in large volumes because of the atomized condition of the stock when it is freely discharged.

All of the above objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangements of parts thereof, as will fully appear by a perusal of the description below and by various specific features which will be hereinafter set forth.

To the above cited and other ends and with the foregoing and various other novel features and advantages and other objects of my invention as will become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claim hereunto annexed and more fully described and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein the figure is a combined side elevational and sectional view of refiner apparatus such as disclosed in the beforementioned application and showing the novel features of this invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the novel features of the invention will be described. It will be understood that so much of the apparatus of the before-mentioned application is shown as is necessary for a disclosure of the present invention.

A frame or housing is indicated generally by 2v which supports the components of the machine as in the application referred to.

An elongated hollow quill 8 is provided which is slidable back and forth Within a tubular portion 10 of the frame. A hearing 12 is provided in which the quill 8 at its rear portion is slidable and held against rotation by suitable means such as a key or the like. The forward end of the quill is guided for sliding movements in a bearing portion 16 of the frame.

A main shaft 18 is supported for rotation within the quill by spaced anti-friction bearings 20 and 22 and the forward end of the quill 8 is sealed to the shaft 18 by means of interfitting parts indicated generally by 24.

A forward part 21 of the shaft 18 is sheathed by a tubular member 30, and a flange or header 32 is provided on the forward end of said shaft part 21. A forward disc carrier 34 is secured to the forward face of header 32. This carrier is reciprocable and rotatable for adjustment in refining operations.

A forward cylindrical chamber 38 of the frame is provided with a cylindrical lining 40 and a forward end head 42 is secured to the frame to close the forward side of the chamber, and is provided with an inlet opening 44 for stock.

A tubular inlet 46 is provided in the upper part of the housing for stock to be refined and may be connected to any form of piping system desired. Similarly the inlet 44 may be connetced to a piping system so as to provide two inlets for stock to be refined.

A non-rotatable disc carrier 48 is reciprocable back and forth in the chamber and has an upper inlet opening 50 in communication with a central opening 52. Packing means 54 around the periphery of the carrier at the forward end thereof seals the carrier in the lining 40 of the chamber for sliding movements.

The inlet 46 is slidably received in the upper inlet opening 5-9 of member 48 and a gland 56 and packing means 58 are provided for sealing purposes as the carrier 48 slides back and forth relative to inlet 46.

A stufiing box housing 60 is secured to the carrier 48 within the opening 52 thereof and includes a gland 62 and packing means 64 to seal the sheath 30 for relative movements of the shaft part 21 relative to carrier 48. As in the application referred to, the shaft 18 and quill 8 are relatively adjustable longitudinally while the said shaft is rotatable and the quill is non-rotatable.

The end member 42 on its inner rear side, the member 48 on its forward side and member 34 on forward and rear sides have refining discs 100, 102, 104 and'106 secured thereto. The shaft 18 and quill 8 are longitudinally adjustable as already explained for positioning the adjacent faces of the cooperating refining discs in predetermined relationship. Discs 100 and 104 constitute a cooperating pair of discs and likewise discs 102 and 106 constitute a pair.

Adjacent cooperating faces of the refining discs will be formed with blading or cutter bars of the desired form well known in the proir art and as an example such as shown in U. S. Patent No. 539,704 of May 21, 1895.

As in the application referred to, the mechanism for simultaneously adjusting the quill and posts axially includes yielding and frictionally engageable means between and connecting the quill and posts, bearings and other parts and are protected against injury in the event 'predetermined desired endwise pressures are reached or exceeded.

It will be noted that the refining components are located at one end of the machine, such as the forward or delivery end, and that the adjusting means is located at the opposite end as in the application referred to. This is important for numerous reasons among which is the fact any expansion of parts in the vicinity of the refining elements due to elevated temperatures may take place without distortion of the frame generally and cause objectionable disturbance of the relationship of components.

Stock entering the inlets 44 and 46 passes upwardly between the pair of cooperating refining discs 100 and '104 and between the pair of discs 102 and 106 and merges at the periphery of the discs for passage outwardly through a radial discharge or outlet 110 provided on the frame, as indicated by the arrows.

From the outlet 110 stock passes through piping including a control 'valve indicated by 112. Said valve will preferably be of the constant pressure type or the like adapted to maintain a predetermined constant pressure wtihin the machine during the refining action. The pressure may, of course, be varied depending on the characteristics of the stock, the degree of refining or defibering desired.

It will be observed that stock from separate inlets passes between separate pairs of discs outwardly radially from adjacent the axis of the discs to the peripheries thereof in the chamber without reverse flow and from the chamber the stock is discharged from a single outlet. In this way, there is a greatly increased stock flow and the stock is not only retained in the machine by pressure control means at a predetermined pressure for the most efiicient refining action but may be pressure discharged so that multiple machines may be series connected for series operation.- 7 Y The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. Hence, the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects merely as being illustrative and not as being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all modifications and variations as fall within the meaning and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claim are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What it is desired tocIaim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

Refining apparatus of the double disc type comprising in combination, a support construction having a circular chamber closed at its rear end by an inner end wall and at its forward end by an endmember, an elongated quill slidablein said support on an axis, parallel to the axis of the chamber and towards and away from said end member and being non-rotatable, a non-rotatable disc carrier slidable and non-rotatable in said chamber towards and away from said end member, a shaft rotatable in said quill terminating inwardly of said end wall, a

rotatable disc carrier on said shaft disposed between said non-rotatable carrier and end member, a pair of forward cooperating refining discs including outer and inner discs carried by adjacent faces of said endmember and rotatable carrier, a pair of rear cooperating refining discs including outer and inner discs carried by 7 adjacent faces of said wall and rotatable carrier, said support construction provided with a discharge outlet extending substantially radially outwardly of said chamber, said'support structure and non-rotatable carrier and the refining disc thereon provided with communicating inlet means arranged for the passage of stock substantially centrally through said carrier and disc and outwardly radially between said disc and disc adjacent thereto to said chamber and discharge outlet, said end member and outer forward disc provided with inlet means arranged for the passage of stock substantially centrally through said end member and disc and radially outwardly between saiddisc and disc adjacent thereto to said chamber and outlet, and means connected to said discharge outlet controlling the rate of flow of stock therefrom whereby to maintain predetermined pressure of stock within said chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patentv UNITED STATES PATENTS 

